Nine people working on a northern Colorado farm were struck by lightning during a fast-moving storm on Thursday, a fire official said. Two people were critically injured, four seriously, said Gary Green, chief of the Wellington Fire Protection District. The group was working in an open field at the time. While none of the injuries were life-threatening, the critically injured patients were “in a significant altered mental state” and were not responding appropriately to questions, Green said.

Amid the recent crush of dance-music-focused festivals in Los Angeles, Lightning in a Bottle never joined the arms race to get bigger. The plucky music and activism event, produced by the performance-art rogues at the Do LaB and rooted in the Burning Man subculture, hasn't taken infusions of cash from major promoters like Live Nation. It hasn't forked over six-figure fees to superstar headlining DJs. Yoga workshops and "Temple of Consciousness" events are as much a part of the weekend as the music.

Four years after its 2009 album, "Backspacer," Pearl Jam is ready for a follow-up. The quintet today announced its new full-length studio album , "Lightning Bolt. " The album is scheduled for an Oct. 18 release on Monkeywrench Records/Universal Republic. "Backspacer" collaboratior Brendan O'Brien returned to produce "Lightning Bolt," and its first single, "Mind Your Manners," is being released today at digital outlets. TIMELINE: Summer's must see concerts The double-time, punky tune, which recalls a lot of the classic hard core that preceded and influenced the band's '90s heyday, suggests that Pearl Jam isn't remotely close to mellowing (well, except when Eddie Vedder picks up his ukulele)

Sebastian Loeb and his Peugeot 208 T16 roadster smashed all standing records to get to the top of Pikes Peak in 8 minutes, 13.878 seconds, but for two-wheelers the big news out of the 91st annual Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was all about Carlin Dunne and his electric Lightning . The San Carlos-manufactured all-electric race bike beat all other motorcycles to the top of the 14,110-foot peak on June 30, setting the fastest motorcycle time...

Another wildfire, the sixth of seven this season in Colorado, has broken out, forcing about 100 people to leave their homes in Jefferson County, about 30 miles from Denver. The blaze, known as the Lime Gulch fire, is burning near Foxton, Colo., on lands of the Pike National Forest. Approximately 500 acres have burned but no injuries have been reported. "The good news is, it's a very sparsely populated area as far as houses go," Jefferson County Sheriff Ted Mink told reporters.

Your summer cocktail options are growing. A wave of new L.A.-area bars have just opened or are soon to open, including a new wine bar (and cocktail program) at the Parish, the third-floor bar at the private Los Angeles Athletic Club and the coming Westside watering hole Old Lightning. Here are the details: The historic Los Angeles Athletic Club downtown has revamped its third-floor restaurant and bar as part of a multimillion-dollar renovation. Invention opens this week with a menu of cocktails created by mixology consultants Marcos Tello and Aidan Demarest of Liquid Assets.

The Sunset Canyon Amphitheatre, at the northwest corner of the UCLA campus, is not exactly the wilds. The bleachers overlook a recreation center's grassy knoll and a swimming pool in the distance. Still, the amphitheater is hidden away and, thanks to UCLA's parking militia, mildly inaccessible to the public. If that touch of trouble and remove helped make Sunset Canyon an enchanted, although challenging, venue Thursday night for Trisha Brown's "Astral Converted," it also helped remind us just how radically times have changed over the last two decades.

While L.A. dance fans are prepping their sunscreen and skimpy attire for Coachella, another Southland electronica festival has announced a lineup worth noting. The Do LaB's annual Lightning in a Bottle made its poster official today, and it features some unexpected top billings. Nicolas Jaar, the young jazz-infused experimentalist who stunned a sold-out Echoplex last year , leads a pack of electronic acts that includes the reggae-dabbling dubstep auteur Rusko, Tycho's psychedelic meditations and the globe-trotting acid house vet Lee Burridge.

Pluses The rich got richer Sunday when the Pittsburgh Penguins acquired left wing Brenden Morrow and a third-round draft pick from the Dallas Stars for touted defense prospect Joe Morrow and a fifth-round pick. The Penguins, winners of 12 straight games, had enough young depth on defense to make a move that positions them to win the East. Brenden Morrow, the Stars' classy captain and a free-agent-to-be, waived his no-trade clause. This is one of those rare deals that should help both sides.